Say that you’re a plasterer looking for cheap van insurance; you might think it reasonable enough to choose the menu options for ‘self employed builder’. However your risk has just shot through the roof and with it your premium.

Why? Because builders often carry expensive equipment in their vans which are a tempting target for thieves and so the cost of the policy is likely to be bumped up.

Reckless form filling can artificially inflate the cost of your premium

But hang on a minute, plasterers don’t have expensive tools, so what’s the solution? Your best bet it to speak to your broker or complete the ‘additional information box’ clearly stating that the tools of your trade are of a nominal value. The results should bring your insurance premium back down to earth.

The lesson here is that filling in application forms with specific details can mean serious savings. It pays to provide as much information as possible, and not only are you likely to make savings, but you can rest assured that if you do have to make a claim; you’ll be adequately covered.

Insurers have access to a database of claims going back years which is broken-down by a variety of criteria, including postcode and occupation. They calculate the cost of cover by their experience of risk and it seems that in some cases stereotypes conform to reality. Hence journalists are high risk… because of all those boozy lunches, while policemen are low risk…precisely because they don’t go for boozy lunches.

The point is that in order to save on insurance costs it pays to provide as much information as possible and to make sure that you don’t conform to a stereotype.